PROJECTS

prairiedogmag.com

I’ve interviewed a lot of performers over the years. Some have been nicer than others, but one quality that’s rare is being “present”. Often the subject presses a mental “play” button, and it’s hard to get them off script.
Then there’s Mads Mikkelsen, who I got to interview twice in a short period of time. On both occasions he was engaged and willing to talk about everything, from an obscure Danish film (The Green Butchers) to Hannibal Lecter, the character that launched a thousand obsessions.

planetsmag.com

2011’s Goon was a surprise hit. The film withstood hockey fan scrutiny while staying engaging for general audiences. The team behind the film knew their the subject — plenty of real-life events were worked into the script — and had solid source material (Douglas Smith’s career as a minor league enforcer).

planetsmag.com

Hard to imagine a more difficult situation than promoting a film whose propulsive force died while making it. It’s the challenge diver Brock Cahill and activist Julie Andersen took on following the passing of Sharkwater Extinction’s director and shark advocate, Rob Stewart.

A sequel to the eye-opening 2006 documentary, Sharkwater Extinction picks up where the previous one left off. Every year, of all the sharks killed around the world, about 80 million are unaccounted for. Rob and co. set to find the culprits in a worldwide quest.

planetsmag.com

To describe Siobhan Fallon Hogan as “that actress who did that thing” would be to grossly underestimate her. Beyond brief yet iconic roles in Forrest Gump (the school bus driver) and Men in Black (Beatrice, Edgar’s long-suffering wife), Fallon Hogan has carved out a niche among European filmmakers trying to understand America through cinema.

planetsmag.com

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse exists because the web-slinger is the only major Marvel property to remain outside Disney’s clutches (especially now that the Mouse House owns Fox’s X-Men and Fantastic Four ). Sure, Sony lends the superhero to the Avengers, but this studio is holding on to its golden spider.

This also means Sony had to get creative to make a Spider-Man universe. Though ravaged by critics (I didn’t hate it), Venom did pretty well at the box-office, better even than traditional Marvel properties at the international level.

planetsmag.com

There’s nothing haphazard about David Lowery’s approach to filmmaking (Pete’s Dragon), but it’s still a surprise when, in A Ghost Story, the auteur crafts a narrative that very nearly grinds to a halt — in a good way.
In A Ghost Story, Casey Affleck (“C”) and Rooney Mara (“M”) are an average couple living in a rickety house. Their happiness comes to an end when “C” dies in a car crash. But death is just the beginning of the story. Hung up on the good times, the spirit of “C” passes up the opportunity to transcend to another plane and returns home, invisible to everyone, including “M”.

planetsmag.com

Christmas is a month and a half away and we’re already knee-deep in holiday movies: The Grinch, The Nutcracker, The Girl in the Spider’s Web. Also going for warm-and-fuzzy-feelings is Instant Family, a comedy about a married couple (Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne) who realize a childless existence is not particularly fulfilling. To escape the ennui, they become foster parents.

Sean Anders is no stranger to Christmas movies. He was at the helm of Daddy’s Home and the sequel.

planetsmag.com

Anthropocene: The Human Epoch is more than a film. It’s part of a larger project that includes art exhibitions, virtual and augmented reality, a coffee table book with photographs and essays by filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal, Edward Burtynsky and Nicolas de Pencier (along with fresh work from Margaret Atwood), and an educational program that will take the film’s message to schools across Canada and possibly beyond.

prairiedogmag.com

Meeting Isabelle Huppert in person is a notch awkward. Anyone who’s followed her career has seen her in very compromising situations (The Piano Teacher), completely debauched (The Ceremony) and in the midst of severe emotional turmoil (White Material, Louder than Bombs). Not surprisingly, Huppert is guarded and stern. With a little prodding though, a dry sense of humour and self-deprecation come to the surface.

prairiedogmag.com

It’s ironic that a film about an intrinsically Canadian story like painter Maud Lewis’ was made by an Irishwoman, a Brit and an American. You sure can’t tell from watching the movie: Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke nail Maud and Everett Lewis, and director Aisling Walsh perfectly captures the rural East Coast milieu that shaped Lewis’ work.

mining-journal.com

It may feel counterintuitive in a region where temperatures often dip below -40C in winter, but exploration is heating up again at NexGen Energy’s (CN: NXE) Rook I uranium project in the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan. CEO Leigh Curyer this week spoke to Mining Journal about his hopes for a 35,000m diamond drilling campaign now underway at the property.

prairiedogmag.com

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is as personable as you would imagine from watching his movies. He politely introduces himself as Joe to every journalist that crosses his path. He’s also a notch aloof. Happens when you have to answer the same questions over and over.

prairiedogmag.com

On my eighth year attending the Toronto International Film Festival, I saw around 50 of the over 350 films shown. I picked the event’s buzzier titles (with one exception: Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals) and whatever else I could fit in my calendar. With that caveat, here is the best of TIFF.

prairiedogmag.com

Imagine you’re marooned on a desert island about to kill yourself and a dead body washes ashore. The cadaver is in fairly good shape and becomes a good companion, outside of a bad case of chronic flatulence.

As the days go by, you discover the body is good for other things: it’s a compass, a cannon and a source of fresh water all in one. Heck, it may just get you out of this forsaken place.